A review of prior art capacitor devices that utilize magnetic materials as part of their construction reveals that they can generally be grouped as to structure and function into three constructs. The three constructs all commonly claim and define at least one magnetic structure that contiguously spans the entire device, inherently resulting in magnetic flux circuitry to reside outside of, and thus stray to, the capacitive portion of each and every prior art device. Such stray magnetic flux is not beneficially influential to energy density inside the device, and the contiguous span of the magnetic structure limits the magnetic field intensity and/or the prior art's magnetic circuitry is caused to pass through comparatively long paths through high reluctance materials, which causes substantial field-weakening of the magnetic flux residing within the capacitive portion of the device. This limited field intensity and field-weakening increases exponentially with increasing dimensional scale as opposing pole coupling distance increases. The three general constructs of the prior art are described and illustrated as follows. Referring to FIGS. 1A-1C, shown is a magnetic capacitor structure 10 (e.g., 10A, 10B, and 10C, respectively) comprising electrodes 12 and 14 (e.g., 14A-14C), with a dielectric 16 disposed between the electrodes 12 and 14. The magnets are the positive and negative electrode plates 12 and 14, which at least one of the magnetic electrodes 12 bridge the full expanse of the capacitor structure 10 and sandwich the dielectric layer 16 between the magnetic electrodes 12 and 14, and the other magnetic electrode 14 can either also span the full expanse of the capacitor structure 10 (e.g., electrode 14C in structure 10C in FIG. 1C) or alternatively can be broken up into sections of connected magnets or discrete magnetic components, as shown in FIGS. 1A-1B.
Referring to FIGS. 2A-2B, shown are magnetic capacitor structure 20 (e.g., 20A and 20B), including a magnetic electrode 22 and a non-magnetic electrode 24. In this example structure 20, only one of the electrode plates 22 are magnetic and the magnetic electrode again bridges the full expanse of a surface of the capacitor structure 20, and a dielectric layer 26 is sandwiched between the magnetic electrode 22 and the non-magnetic electrode 24.
FIG. 3 shows another example magnetic capacitor structure 30 comprising a magnetic layer 32, non-magnetic electrodes 34 and 36, and dielectrics 38 (sandwiched between the magnetic layer 32 and electrode 34) and 40 (sandwiched between magnetic layer 32 and electrode 36). In other words, a (non-electrode) magnet 32 that bridges the full expanse of the capacitor structure 30 is not a positive or negative electrode, and is sandwiched between dielectric layers 38 and 40, which dielectric layers 38 and 40 are in turn sandwiched between non-magnetic electrode plates 34 and 36.
Evident from analysis of all of these types of structures is that there is a commonly shared, and inherently limiting, attribute of all such prior art (particularly as to full expanse magnetic constructions), which is that their magnetic circuit (path) involves flux that passes outside and astray of the capacitor structure, and thus their stray flux is non-influential towards enhancing the potential capacitance of the dielectric or internal structure. Additionally, if the magnetic electrodes are in parallel as to magnetic polarity, or have perpendicular to plane orientation magnetic polarity, such prior art structures inherently do not scale beneficially because as the size of their plate dimensions increase so too does the magnetic flux return path distance of travel through high reluctance material. A lengthy high reluctance distance of travel for the magnetic circuits in all of the prior art structures results in significant degradation of the magnetic field strength within the magnetic circuit.
Referring again to the prior art structures, the self-defined structures found in all of the prior art are limited as to having dielectric material that is inherently not under the external influence of a strong magnetic field. The characteristic of their magnetic electrodes that span the breadth of such structures results in none, or only a modest amount of the magnetic flux of such structures passing through the dielectric between electrodes, and/or to have such magnetic flux that does pass through the dielectric between the electrodes to be of comparatively weakened field strength.
Some of the prior art capacitor structures are designed to specifically utilize magnetic material components as electrodes in order to derive gigantic magnetoresistance effects (GMR) so as to beneficially reduce current tunneling through the dielectric from the charged electrodes. Some of these prior art devices' incorporation of a GMR effect does allow for the beneficial use of comparatively thinner dielectric layers and thus smaller volumes of capacitors relative to the geometric equivalent performance of traditional capacitors of non-GMR structures, as to providing for comparable retained charge, because the GMR effect inhibits the occurrence of tunneling current. However, these prior art GMR-effect-inducing capacitor structures do not increase greatly the capacitance or energy density of a capacitor because such prior art GMR structures do not provide for an enhanced polarization potential of the dielectric material, since such prior art's magnetic structures span the entire device, their magnetic flux circuitries follow a path that is stray to and outside of the dielectric within their capacitor. That is to say, the prior art structures do not derive the dramatic increase in energy density of a capacitor.
Following is an analysis of some example prior art constructions with illustrations and matching narrative explanations of the operation of their magnetic circuitry and the inherent flaws associated with such prior art structures, which flaws contribute to the reasons that inhibit such prior art devices from achieving significant gains in energy density. Referring to FIG. 4, shown is a three dimensional perspective view of an example prior art magnetic capacitor structure 40, which consists of a top plate 42 made of magnetic material(s) with a dipole orientation horizontal to the plane in one direction, a bottom plate 44 made of magnetic material(s) with a dipole orientation to the plane in the same direction (i.e., parallel magnetism), with a dielectric layer 46 sandwiched between the top 42 and bottom 44 magnetic layers. The top 42 and bottom 44 magnetic layers are opposite electrical polarity electrodes (e.g. positive/negative). In this illustration, the vertical distance between the magnetic electrode plates 42, 44 is comparatively shorter than the horizontal distance across the magnetic electrode plates. The capacitance of a structure is inversely proportional to the distance between the electrodes, whereas the capacitance increases with increased surface areas of the electrodes, and hence the vertical distance between electrodes is typically kept small relative to the plate dimensions.
With a parallel magnetic dipole orientation of the top versus the bottom electrode plate, as shown in FIG. 4, much, if not most of the flux will follow an arc shaped magnetic circuit emanating first in plane from the tips of the dipole and then bending from the opposing polarity dipole ends of one magnetic electrode towards the other opposing dipole end of the same magnetic electrode in a horizontal direction, with most of the flux passing either across the top of the top electrode or across the bottom of the bottom electrode, because the path through the dielectric layer between the magnetic electrodes is conflicted and constrained as to density potential because flux lines cannot cross each other and the easiest non-conflicting pathway is outside the structure. Therefore much of the flux circuit will be completely stray to the structure and the flux will be caused to travel outside the dielectric layer that is sandwiched between the two electrodes, and the magnetic flux circuit will also travel stray to the electric field that passes across the dielectric layer, which electric field is aligned orthogonally from one electrode to the other electrode. Additionally, since the magnetic circuit of the flux requires a return path that is equal to the width distance of the electrode plate, the magnetic field strength is significantly weakened compared to the field strength of the much shorter vertical distance between the opposing dipole ends of an anti-parallel magnetic electrode configuration, as described below in association with FIG. 5. Thus, with a parallel magnetic dipole orientation of electrodes, most of the flux is completely stray to the capacitor and also exhibits a comparatively weak magnetic field influence, both undesirable features for achieving magnetically enhanced energy density within a capacitor. Furthermore, if the dimensional size of the magnetic electrode plates is increased in an attempt to provide for greater total energy storage capacity, inherently, the magnetic circuit traveling across the high reluctance medium between the dipole ends of the magnets will increase in length and the magnetic field strength would thus decrease exponentially with the increased distance. Such prior art magnetic electrode structures are not capable of scaling to larger dimensions while retaining magnetic field strength influence.
FIG. 5 shows a three dimensional perspective view of an example prior art magnetic capacitor structure 50, which consists of a top plate 52 made of magnetic material(s) with a dipole orientation horizontal to the plane in one direction, a bottom plate 54 made of magnetic material(s) with a dipole orientation horizontal to the plane in the opposite direction to the top plate (i.e., anti-parallel magnetism), with a dielectric layer 56 sandwiched between the top 52 and bottom magnetic layers 54. The top 52 and bottom 54 magnetic layers are opposite electrical polarity electrodes (e.g. positive/negative). In this illustration, the vertical distance between the magnetic electrode plates 52 and 54 is comparatively shorter than the horizontal distance across the magnetic electrode plates. The capacitance of a structure is inversely proportional to the distance between the electrodes, whereas the capacitance increases with increased surface areas of the electrodes, hence this vertical distance between electrodes is typically kept small relative to the plate dimensions.
With an anti-parallel magnetic dipole orientation of the top versus the bottom electrode plate as shown in FIG. 5, much, if not most of the flux will follow an arc shaped magnetic circuit emanating first in plane from the tips of the dipole and then bending from the opposing polarity dipole ends of one magnetic electrode towards the other opposing dipole end of the other magnetic electrode in a vertical direction. Therefore much of the flux circuit will follow a path that is stray to the structure, that is to say, the flux will be caused to travel outside the dielectric layer that is sandwiched between the two electrodes, and the magnetic flux circuit will also travel stray to the electric field that passes across the dielectric layer, which electric field is aligned orthogonally from one electrode to the other electrode. Therefore, such prior art structures do not permit the beneficial influence of a magnetic field working in conjunction with the electric field influence to realize a meaningful magnetically enhanced capacitance effect.
Referring now to FIGS. 6A and 6B, shown are side elevation schematic views of example prior art structures 60 (e.g., 60A and 60B), which consists of a top plate 62 made of magnetic material(s) with a dipole orientation horizontal to the plane in one direction, a bottom electrode 64 (e.g., 64A of FIG. 6A and 64B of FIG. 6B) made of discrete magnetic material(s) with a dipole orientation to the plane in the same direction (i.e., parallel magnetism, FIG. 6A), and alternatively in the opposite direction (i.e., antiparallel magnetism, FIG. 6B), with a dielectric layer 66 sandwiched between the top 62 and bottom 64 magnets. The top 62 and bottom 64 magnetic layers are opposite electrical polarity electrodes (e.g. positive/negative). In this illustration, the vertical distance between the magnetic electrode plates 62 and 64 is comparatively shorter than the horizontal distance across the magnetic electrode plates. The capacitance of a structure is inversely proportional to the distance between the electrodes, whereas the capacitance increases with increased surface areas of the electrodes, hence this vertical distance between electrodes is typically kept small relative to the plate dimensions.
Albeit the bottom magnets 64 shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B are discrete, their magnetic coupling results in a flux circuitry that is comparable to a single plate because the discrete magnets link in series. Therefore the comments of the two prior art discussions (FIGS. 4-5) for the most part apply to these structures.
With a parallel magnetic dipole orientation of the top electrode plate 62 versus the bottom electrode plate 64 (FIG. 6A), much, if not most of the flux will follow an arc shaped magnetic circuit emanating first in plane from the tips of the dipole and then bending from the opposing polarity dipole ends of one magnetic electrode towards the other opposing dipole end of the same magnetic electrode in a horizontal direction, with most of the flux passing either across the top of the top electrode 62 or across the bottom of the bottom electrode 64, because the path through the dielectric layer 66 between the magnetic electrodes 62, 64 is conflicted and constrained as to density potential because flux lines cannot cross each other and the easiest non-conflicting pathway is outside the structure 60. Therefore much of the flux circuit will be completely stray to the structure 60 and the flux will be caused to travel outside the dielectric layer 66 that is sandwiched between the two electrodes 64, 62, and the magnetic flux circuit will also travel stray to the electric field that passes across the dielectric layer 66, which electric field is aligned orthogonally from one electrode to the other electrode. The flux between the gaps of the discrete magnets will have comparatively moderate magnetic field strength weakening because the distance is relatively short, whereas, since the magnetic circuit of the flux of the top magnet and the flux return path of the outer magnets of the bottom electrode requires a return path that is equal to the width distance of the electrode plate, the magnetic field strength is significantly weakened compared to the field strength of the much shorter vertical distance between the opposing dipole ends of an anti-parallel magnetic electrode configuration. Thus, with a parallel magnetic dipole orientation of electrodes, most of the flux is completely stray to the capacitor and also exhibits a comparatively weak magnetic field influence, both undesirable features for achieving magnetically enhanced energy density within a capacitor. Furthermore, if the dimensional size of the magnetic electrode plates is increased in an attempt to provide for greater total energy storage capacity, inherently, the magnetic circuit traveling across the high reluctance medium between the dipole ends of the top magnet and the outer magnets of the bottom electrode will increase in length and the magnetic field strength would thus decrease exponentially with the increased distance. Therefore, such magnetic electrode structures are not well adapted towards scaling to larger dimensions while retaining magnetic field strength influence.
With an anti-parallel magnetic dipole orientation of the top versus the bottom electrode plate (FIG. 6B), much, if not most of the flux will follow an arc shaped magnetic circuit emanating first in plane from the tips of the dipole and then bending from the opposing polarity dipole ends of one magnetic electrode 62 towards the other opposing dipole end of the other magnetic electrode 64 in a vertical direction. Therefore much of the flux circuit will follow a path that is stray to the structure 60, that is to say, the flux will be caused to travel outside the dielectric layer 66 that is sandwiched between the two electrodes 62, 64, and the magnetic flux circuit will also travel stray to the electric field that passes across the dielectric layer 66, which electric field is aligned orthogonally from one electrode to the other electrode. The flux that bridges between the dipole ends of the discrete magnets likewise lies outside the electric field between the electrodes. Therefore, such prior art structures do not permit the beneficial influence of a magnetic field working in conjunction with the electric field influence to realize a meaningful magnetically enhanced capacitance effect.
The two illustrations in FIGS. 7A-7B provide representative side-elevation and perspective schematic views, respectively, of example prior art structures 70, which consists of a top plate 72 made of magnetic material(s) with an dipole orientation that is perpendicular to the plane of the top plate 72 and opposing but parallel to the perpendicular anisotropy to the plane of the bottom plate 74 made of magnetic material(s) with a dielectric layer 76 sandwiched between the top and bottom magnetic layers 72, 74. The top 72 and bottom 74 magnetic layers are opposite electrical polarity electrodes (e.g. positive/negative). In these illustrations the vertical distance between the magnetic electrode plates 72, 74 is comparatively shorter than the horizontal distance across the plane of the magnetic electrode plates. The capacitance of a structure 70 is inversely proportional to the distance between the electrodes 72, 74, whereas the capacitance increases with increased surface areas of the electrodes, hence this vertical distance between electrodes is typically kept small relative to the in plane plate dimensions.
With an opposing magnetic dipole orientation of the top 72 versus the bottom 74 electrode plate, the flux will pass perpendicular to the plane of the electrodes and across the dielectric material 76 sandwiched between the magnetic electrodes. But the flux will also be caused to follow a magnetic circuit that will follow an arc shaped magnetic path emanating from the top of the top magnetic electrode plate 72 completely outside of the capacitor structure around to the opposing dipole bottom surface of the bottom electrode 74, which outside arc path becomes larger as the magnetic electrode plate dimensions grow larger. Additionally, this lengthy outer arced magnetic circuit of the flux is significantly weakening to the field strength. Therefore such structures will not scale to larger dimensions as to retaining magnetically enhanced capacitance effect.
Referring to FIG. 8, shown is a three dimensional perspective view of an example prior art magnetic capacitor structure 80, which consists of a top plate 82 made of magnetic material(s) with an in-plane dipole orientation and a bottom plate 84 made of non-magnetic material(s) with a dielectric layer 86 sandwiched between the top magnetic electrode layer 82 and the bottom non-magnetic electrode layer 84. The flux of the sole magnetic electrode 82 will be caused to follow a magnetic circuit that will follow twin arc shaped magnetic circuits emanating from the north pole of the top magnetic electrode plate 82 with one arc path transcending across the top of the top magnetic electrode 82 completely outside and thus stray of the capacitor structure 80 and the other arced path transcending through the dielectric material 86 and/or the non-magnetic electrode 84, toward the opposing dipole of the top magnetic electrode 82, which arc shaped magnetic circuit paths becomes longer as the magnetic electrode plate 82 dimensions grows larger. Additionally, this lengthy arced magnetic circuit of the flux is significantly weakening to the field strength. Thus, this structure has two inherent flaws as to yielding strong magnetic influence to a capacitor: weak field strength and half the flux stray to the capacitor which reduces flux density.
FIG. 9 shows a three dimensional perspective view of an example prior art magnetic capacitor structure 90, which consists of a top plate 92 made of non-magnetic conductive material(s) and a bottom plate 94 with non-magnetic conductive material(s). Also there is a magnetic plate 96 that has an in-plane dipole orientation, which magnetic plate 96 spans the entire dimension of the capacitor structure 90, with dielectric layers that are sandwiched between the top and the bottom non-magnetic conductive plates 92 and 94 and the magnetic plate 96. The dielectric layers conductively isolate the magnetic plate 96. The flux of the sole magnetic plate 96 will be caused to follow a magnetic circuit that will follow twin arc shaped magnetic circuits emanating from the north pole of the sandwiched magnetic plate 96 with one arc path transcending over the top of the top magnetic plate and the other arced path transcending over the bottom of the magnetic plate, with such flux passing through the dielectric material 96 and/or the non-magnetic electrode, or outside and stray of the capacitor structure, toward the opposing dipole of the magnetic plate. As the magnetic electrode plate dimensions grow larger, the arc shaped magnetic circuit pathway through high reluctance materials becomes longer. This lengthy arced magnetic circuit of the flux is significantly weakening to the field strength. Thus, this structure has at least two inherent flaws as to yielding strong magnetic influence to a capacitor as the flux path will not scale well to larger dimensions of capacitor structures and the arced flux return path where the flux density is greatest near the dipole ends will be largely stray to the capacitor structure, especially if the vertical dimension is kept narrow between the two non-magnetic conductor plate terminals of the capacitor.